Accelerated Mobile Pages: How AMP Affects SEO

The inclination of Google towards mobile-friendly websites became apparent when it launched Mobilegeddon update in 2015. Ever since, it has launched various algorithm updates and listed ranking factors like mobile-first indexing, mobile site speed, etc., to prove that having a mobile-friendly website is important for Google ranking. On February 24, 2016, Google launched its official project Accelerated Mobile Pages and attracted more than 1.7 billion sites for AMP page upgrading within a year of this launch.

As an open-source initiative, Accelerated Mobile Pages allow the publishers and site owners to create a mobile-optimized page just once which will instantly load every time a user tries to open it. These pages not just offer a lightning-fast page loading but also increases the dwell time on site while minimizing the bounce rate. All this plays a crucial role in search engine optimization of the site for higher ranking. For those who have not yet made use of the Google-backed AMP for a better experience, and those who have, here are some of the main ways in which AMP affects your SEO.

Enhances User Experience With Fast Loading

With lightning speed loading, Google AMP offer relieve to the mobile web users. A Google research revealed that more than 53% of the mobile users tend to abandon a site if it does not load in 3 seconds. Additionally, even a 0.1-second delay in page loading cost Amazon a whopping $1.3 billion per year. These numbers narrate the importance of speed for not just user engagement but also revenue. Irrespective of the size of your enterprise, Google Accelerated Mobile Pages are a must to enhance your mobile user's experience. These pages enable even the heaviest of sites to load in less than a second which enriches the browsing experience and creates a good first impression on the users.

Increases Ranking For Mobile Search

A brainchild of Google, any site that wants to rank higher on mobile search result pages is recommended to AMP-lify their site. Although it is not an official ranking factor but many of Google's algorithms revolve around mobile-first indexing and website loading speed on mobile. This is a clear indication that Google might soon roll out an algorithm and program its bots to rank sites on the basis of the page load speed. This AMP project by Google minimizes site recalculations, keeps third-party JS away from the critical path, and sizes AMP JS asynchronously to boost the page loading speed on mobile phones. Mobile-friendliness and site speed, as factors for Google ranking, enable your site to rank higher on mobile search results.

Optimizes Site Visibility On Mobile Browsers

The AMP thunder sign on search result pages distinguishes Google Accelerated Mobile Pages from the basic results. Users can easily recognize an AMP from other pages and given its fast page loading speed, prefer opening them instead of other pages. This signal prompts the users to click open the AMP page for a better browsing experience. For those who want to optimize their visibility on various mobile browsers, getting accelerated mobile pages is the most effective thing to do.

Streamlined Tracking & Analytics

Optimizing search engine results is all about tracking the behavior of the traffic with respect to the site. Accelerated mobile pages offer a very simple and streamlined user analytics report for tracking the actions and reactions of the visitors. One can easily get a detailed report on the visitor count, returning visitors, link tracking, video tracking, clicks, conversions, etc. This analytics report can further be used to modify the content on AMP and get more traffic and clicks.

Fully Adaptable Ad Support

Having ad content display on top of your content can easily decrease your content value and even frustrate the users. As a project running on open-source technique, AMP has fully adaptable support for displaying ad content on your site. First of all, it takes care that only those ads are displayed on your site that load faster and do not make your site lag. Next, it also ensures that the ads displayed on the site are well-placed so that they do not cover any site content and looks good on your site. It also fits the ads as per the screen size of the mobile phones. Thus, by monetizing you accelerated mobile pages, you can enjoy great returns on your ad spend.

Lowers Your Bounce Rates

Page load time is directly proportional to the bounce rate of your site; the higher the loading time, the greater is the probability of visitors abandoning it. The probability of a user abandoning just after one pages increases by 32% if a sites speed increases by 1 second to 3 seconds and goes up to 90% if the load time increases by 1-5 seconds. And we all know that your site's bounce rate has a huge impact on SEO. Thus, indirectly, by increasing the site load speed, AMP-upgraded pages lower bounce rate and help your site rank high on search engine result pages.

Boosts Click Through Rate

Officially integrated in 2016, now the users have finally become fully aware of the thunder sign that comes along with a few websites on Google search result. They've realized that these pages load faster than the rest. Thus, having an AMP highlight along with your site link on SERP boosts the possibility of the user clicking it. This AMP sign prompts the users to click it open as they believe it to load quickly. In fact, a poll conducted by 9to5Google also revealed that more than half of the users (50.24%) are more likely to click on an AMP for opening any link.

Although Google has not officially declared AMP as a ranking factor, its algorithms consider factors like site speed, bounce rate, dwell time, etc., for ranking a site on search result pages. And these factors are directly related to this project. If you are also trying to rank high on search engines, incorporating AMP-upgraded pages in your site can not just prove beneficial for your SEO but also keep the visitors engaged on your site for long with quick loading.